Europe’s Inroads Into Latin America

When Germany lay smoldering in the rubble of World War ii, a lone voice warned that Berlin’s will for global dominance had not been broken, and that it would rise again—one final time. That voice said Germany had prepared a blueprint for that rise long before its defeat by Allied powers.

This final time, instead of stony-faced, jack-booted soldiers conquering nations by blitzkrieg force, it would be posh businessmen equipped with the weapons of the new Euroforce: tailored suits, briefcases and laptops. This war would be fought in corporate boardrooms, at political functions and business lunches, and through meticulous international diplomacy.

And this time around, that voice warned, Europe would have the help of Latin America. Of course, that voice belonged to Herbert W. Armstrong, and time has proven that his forecast was spot on.

Nazi-Latino Underground

“Germany’s plans in South America were temporarily halted by her defeat in World War ii,” the Plain Truth reported in May 1962.

What plans were these? Well, Germans had been making inroads into Latin America even back in the 1530s, in the earliest decades of European colonization—long before the various German peoples were even united into one country.

The primary influx of Germans occurred in the mid-1800s, when Latin American nations had stabilized and Germany remained disunited. In communities throughout Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala and elsewhere, industrious German immigrants began to exert robust influence in politics, culture and especially the business sector.

That Plain Truth article continued, “South America will be conquered by business agents, not by guns” (quoting T. H. Tetens, Germany Plots With the Kremlin; emphasis added).

Much of the German influence had a positive effect on Latin American development and prosperity, but, as the decades went by and the Third Reich rose back in the homeland, some of these German immigrants proved to be aggressive Pan-Germanists, fascists and Nazis.

A study into these early Teutonic inroads into Latin America shows that some leading Germans planned to extend their vision of a German-led empire into Latin America and to capitalize on the Catholic culture they shared in order to tap into the reserves of the resource-rich continent.

Germany’s crushing defeat in World War ii slowed those plans, but it did not stop them. In fact, it set events in motion that delivered a great boost to Germany’s long-term strategy in Latin America.

After World War ii, over 55,000 Germans fled their native land to live in havens in other nations. Thousands of Nazi sympathizers from Croatia, Hungary and Yugoslavia also fled their countries to continue working for the coming European religious-corporate Reich. Many of these war criminals fled through the Vatican-engineered “ratlines.” The majority of them ended up in Latin America.

The October 1957 issue of the Plain Truth said, “During World War ii, Argentina was an outspoken friend of Hitler, sheltering Nazi officers and men, offering safe haven for Nazi ships and submarines. Many Nazis found their way to Argentina and safety while Hitler’s regime was collapsing under the steady rain of Allied bombs.”

Juan Perón, president of Argentina during the postwar years, openly boasted about how delighted his government was to absorb well-trained, highly educated Nazi war criminals after Germany’s defeat. “The German government has invested millions of marks into the development of these people; we only paid for the airplane ticket,” he said.

By 1950, Berlin had carved out a high-level military presence in Argentina; German companies were again firmly planted in several Latin American nations; Adolf Hitler’s puppet ruler, Ante Pavelić, was injecting fascist ideology into Paraguay; and the Nazis had intelligence agents entrenched in Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Ecuador and other nations.

In the decades since then, the Vatican has helped many German and other European corporations tap into Latin America’s most lucrative industrial and agricultural markets. German corporate giants such as ThyssenKrupp, Siemens, Bayer, Volkswagen, I. G. Farben and Deutsche Bank are now household names south of the Rio Grande, across Panama, in the Andean nations, and clear down to southern Argentina and Chile.

Since Germany’s unification in 1990, and Berlin’s subsequent climb to the ruling seat of the European Union, all levels of EU trade and investment in the Latin region have dramatically increased.

Herbert Armstrong knew far in advance that communism would fail to entice the Latinos and that British and American influence there would dwindle. He knew it would be German-led Europe that would ultimately achieve its long-term goal of economic and religious domination of Latin America. Europe today is rapidly achieving that goal.

Modern Symbiosis

The modern strategic partnership between the EU and the Latin region was initiated in June 1999 at the first European Union, Latin America and the Caribbean (eu-lac) Summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The eu-lac includes all nations of the EU and Latin America, representing a population of about a billion people. It meets every two years to boost cooperation in issues ranging from trade and science to culture and politics. In 2010, the two sides created the eu-lac Foundation. Where in all of Europe and Latin America did they decide to build the foundation’s facilities? Hamburg, Germany.

The organization has served as a remarkable boon to both sides, particularly in the wake of Europe’s recent financial turmoil: “The difficult economic times for Europe come in contrast to the sustained growth for the majority of the countries of our continent …. Latin America is a part, not of the problem, but of the possible solutions to the global crisis,” Alfredo Moreno, Chile’s minister of foreign affairs, said in 2012.

In recent years, the EU has finalized free-trade pacts with Chile, Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua. It has also been laboring to conclude formal talks toward a free-trade pact with the entire Latin American region. Already, the EU has established itself as the number one foreign investor in Latin America. In 2010, Europe invested some $486.8 billion into the Latin region—more than its foreign direct investment in China, Russia and India combined.

The EU is also Latin America’s second-largest trade partner, with the European Commission reporting that, from 2002 to 2012, total European Union trade with Latin America more than doubled, soaring from $128.6 billion to $285.1 billion.

By developing this relationship, which it calls a “strategic alliance,” Europe is directly challenging Washington’s bygone hopes of creating a Pan-American free-trade area. This challenge of U.S. influence was also predicted by Mr. Armstrong.

To the Icy Exclusion of the United States

The May 1962 Plain Truth declared that “the United States is going to be left out in the cold as twogigantic trade blocs, Europe andLatin America, mesh together and begin calling the shots in world commerce.”

In perhaps the most powerful statement in its 1999 report, the European Commission declared, “The European alternative can thus represent a viable counterweight to what is sometimes perceived as excessive economic and political dependence.” This is saying that Latin America could and should break its dependence on the United States, and instead rely on the Europeans.

The Plain Truth asked its readers some sobering questions in its April 1966 issue: “Can you see why we warn readers that the Latin American Common Market and the Central American Common Market are dangerously close to becoming partners with the European Common Market? Can you see these giant combines are dangerously close to turning their backs on America and Britain, once and for all? Can you see why we warn you that the Nazis—hiding out all over South America—are dangerously close to rising again, this time to be victorious as prophesied in Isaiah 10, Jeremiah 25:15-33?”

Today, we might ask if we see the seriousness of the eu-lac combine, and the implications of its congealing cooperation. An economically unified, politically stable Latino bloc is necessary to ensure constant delivery of goods to Europe. It is also a way for the Europeans to reduce U.S. geopolitical power. These are major reasons why Europe, with Vatican assistance, is working hard to constantly shore up its influence in Latin America.

At present, the United States is still Latin America’s largest trade partner, but its position there has been sliding to make way for stronger ties between Europe and the Latin American nations.

One sobering sign of this slide came in February 2014. Fueled by anger over Washington’s unapologetic spying on Latin American and European leaders (including a tap on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone), the EU and Brazil agreed to lay an undersea cable stretching some 3,500 miles from Lisbon to Fortaleza. The $185 million cable project is designed to keep the U.S. out of the loop in EU-Latin American communications, and could pave the way to push Washington further out of Latin America.

The same month, Europe and Brazil expressed hope for a breakthrough in trade negotiations between the EU and Mercosur, a bloc that includes Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. The two sides have been working toward a mammoth free-trade deal since 2000, but the talks so far have produced few results.

Their mutual anger over U.S. spying may prove to be just the catalyst needed to jolt the trade deal to life. “For the first time, I think we are close to achieving that objective,” Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said. “I think both sides are very much aware of the importance of this trade agreement.”

Once Europe’s unification is complete, the U.S.’s position with Brazil and other Latin American nations will slip rapidly into oblivion.

The Catholic Connection

The headquarters of the Catholic Church is in Europe. Yet it is not Europe but Latin America—incorporating Mexico, the Central American isthmus and the continent of South America—that constitutes the most catholicized landmass in the world. The region’s largest country, Brazil, has more Roman Catholics than any nation on the planet, and Mexico is a close second. No continent is more aligned with the Vatican than Latin America.

The Plain Truth recognized the deep importance of the religious roots Europeans and Latin Americans share. In October 1957, it said, “Latin American nations will join in with the European revival of the old Roman Empire ….” Throughout history, that empire has been guided by the Vatican.

In recent decades, the Vatican’s role in the EU-Latin American relationship has become more and more pronounced.

During his 1979 to 2005 papacy, Pope John Paul ii visited all 24 countries of Central and South America. The visits were part of an effort to stabilize the region and to remind Latin America of the religion and culture it shares with Europe and of its trade obligations to the EU. Pope Benedict xvi, with a 2007 visit to Brazil, kept the momentum from his predecessor moving forward.

A few years later, Benedict handed the church’s reins over to a man who is perhaps better qualified than any other to orchestrate the third and final act of Latin America’s joining in with “the European revival of the old Roman Empire.” Pope Francis i, born Jorge Bergoglio, became the Catholic Church’s first Latin American pope in history. He grew up in Argentina—the Latin American nation more culturally and politically influenced by its connection to Nazi Germany than any other.

Since his induction into office in March 2013, Francis has had staggering success in healing the reputation of the “mother” church and in spearheading a global revival of Catholic enthusiasm. “What makes this pope so important is the speed with which he has captured the imaginations of millions who had given up hope for the church at all,” Time magazine wrote of Francis.

Pope Francis’s role in absorbing Latin America into Europe’s imperialist drive is crucial. Langley Intelligence Group Network said, “[H]e will be very strong towards bringing Argentina, Venezuela and Cuba into the Catholic fold.” Time has proven that true.

To an even greater degree than with Europeans, the pope’s fellow Argentines have been moved by Francis’s charm; one year into his papacy the number of Argentines who identified as Catholic rose by a stunning 12 percent. This change takes on even more relevance when we consider that the vast majority of Argentines already identified as Catholic before this 12 percent boost. Similar increases were reported throughout Latin America.

Remember, while Germany still lay defeated, Mr. Armstrong warned that it would rise again behind the cloak of a uniting Europe. He also declared that Europe would dominate the Latino common market largely by harnessing the Catholic Church’s religious dominance.

With one foot firmly planted in Europe and the other in his native Latin America, Pope Francis appears poised to accomplish this outcome. He could well be the man to complete Rome’s effort to draw Latin Americans under its influence and to forge an intercontinental empire, which is, in reality, the biblically prophesied seventh and final resurrection of the Holy Roman Empire!Chinese Checkers in Chile and Beyond

It is crucial to watch the deep economic inroads China is steadily making into Latin America, especially since the year 2000. Europe is certainly watching them! But there is a fundamental difference between Europe’s drive into Latin America and that of China.

Beijing is there for a straightforward reason: It needs resources to fuel China’s rise, and Latin America has plenty of them. The EU’s trade and humanitarian efforts in Latin America, on the other hand, are more complex. Rather than a simple thirst for resources, Europe’s efforts are designed to extend its rising empire. The blood and religion Latin America shares with Europe are thicker than the economic ties it shares with China.

Yet Europe’s influence in Latin America has slipped slightly as Beijing’s ambitions have swelled. Chinese Marxist revolutionary Mao Tse Tung vowed to his people decades ago, “All that the West has, China will have.” China’s rapacious drive into Latin America and other regions is evidence that Mao’s words still resonate clearly in the Chinese mind-set.

But we should be assured that Europe will not sit passively as Beijing gobbles up Latin America’s wealth.

As the size of China’s Latin American footprint grows, Europe will work with ferocity to bolster its own presence there. Europe is troubled by the roots the Chinese (and to a lesser degree the Russians) are extending into Latin America because it knows that if the Asian axis can conquer the Americas, then not only would the Asians be able to monopolize the resource-rich continents, but they would also basically have the European landmass surrounded—with the Americas on Europe’s right and the Asian lands on Europe’s left.

At present, the lack of cohesion among European nations prevents Germany and the EU from doing much to reverse China’s deepening inroads into Latin America. But Asia’s drive into the Latin region will actually act as a catalyst for EU unity.